


Standing on the Edge of the World

by howlhowl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Just gals being pals, bisexual feels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2018-08-29 02:47:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8472532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howlhowl/pseuds/howlhowl
Summary: How Ginny got over Harry Potter.





	1. Whispers in the Library

**Author's Note:**

> one day my partner in fic crime, Eve, said to me "maybe we should ~*be the change we want to see*~" while we were talking about fic so i started writing this one. this is my first ever long(er) fic.  
> thank you to Eve and Lori for the beta, pep talks and bad ideas.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny and Luna are studying in the library.

THUMP!  
  
Ginny dropped a stack of transfiguration books on the table. Luna looked up dreamily from her textbook and smiled at her. Over her shoulder Ginny could see Madam Pince at her desk glaring at them. When she saw Ginny looking, she shushed at them loudly. Ginny rolled her eyes and crash landed down on the seat across from Luna.  
  
"Merlin wept," she sighed as her behind hit the chair. "Do we really have to read all these books?" She leaned against the pile, she could only just rest her chin on top of it comfortably.  
  
Luna shrugged. "Hermione's recommendation. You know how she is."  
  
Ginny sighed again. "Have any of the other Ravenclaws said anything about their reading lists? I'm pretty sure no one had touched this one in a year judging by the layers of dust on it. Probably not since Hermione read every book in the library for her O.W.Ls."  
  
Luna shrugged again. "No. You know I don't have friends other than you."  
  
Ginny frowned. It was strange how Luna had such a carefree matter of fact way of saying things other people would find too depressing or be too embarrassed to say out loud. "What about the rest of Dumbledore's Army?" she said.  
  
"I haven't really spoken to anyone else all year. Other than Harry, when he took me to Slughorn's party as friends", Luna answered. She looked up from her book. She must have seen the sad shock on Ginny's face, because she continued, shrugging; "It's fine, everyone's busy with their things."  
  
She didn't look sad. Not really. She was smiling that smile Ginny didn't quite know how to describe, like she knew something about the world no one else would ever figure out. But it wasn't a smug I-know-something-you-don't, ne-ner grin, just kind of... serene maybe? Luna was so hard to describe. Words often failed Ginny when she tried.  
  
"Are the other Ravenclaws still being dicks to you?" Ginny felt anger rising to the surface of her emotional waters. She hated the idea of less open minded housemates tormenting Luna with dumb pranks just because she was different.  
  
Luna shrugged. "They've mostly left me alone altogether. My shoes haven't gone missing for a while now." Ginny felt the weight slip partially off her shoulder. She was relieved Luna wasn't being bullied, though other Ravenclaws completely ignoring her wasn't that much better. Not that Luna seemed to mind though.  
  
Ginny got up, walked around the table and sat on the chair next to Luna. "Sometimes I wish I was in Ravenclaw so I could be there for you all the time," she sighed.  
Luna smiled. "That's such a Gryffindor thing to say. My Hero", she said and hugged Ginny tight.  
Ginny buried her face deep in Luna's mane of dirty blonde hair and inhaled the faint scent of elderflower that always tangled in it. Her heart fluttered something delicious as Luna's soft breath linger on her bare neck, just underneath the messy pony tail she'd tied up as she walked in to the library only half an hour earlier.  
  
Suddenly there was a loud ahem sound of what turned out to be Madame Pince clearing her throat disapprovingly. Ginny could feel a flush creep up her neck to her cheeks and forehead, mostly probably making her the reddest creature in the world. Bright as a tomato topped with more bright red hair and freckles all across her cheeks and back. She quickly pulled away from Luna's arms.  
  
Her heart seemed to be pounding all the blood in her body to her face. She felt warm and a little dizzy but in a good way. She looked at Luna and saw the blonde girl was smiling at her. She always did seem to be smiling. What was her secret?  
  
"Never mind her", Luna said and shuffled her chair as close to Ginny's as she could.  
  
The action made a not really that loud scraping sound against the library's wooden floor ending with a small thump but it still made Madame Pince glare at them viciously and shush. The shush clearly contained a "Teenagers" and a scoff within it, as usual.  
  
Luna giggled and leaned in even closer to whisper in Ginny's ear; "Madame Pince is absolutely covered in nargles. Poor thing."  
  
Ginny snorted with laughter. "No wonder's she's got a pixie in her pointy hat then."  
  
Luna stayed leaning in close and her soft warm breath lingered on Ginny's ear lobe. She seemed like she was going to say something else but was unsure if she should or maybe how she should word it.  
  
After what to Ginny seemed like several tantalizing minutes but most likely was just a few seconds she pulled away. Ginny could feel her own shoulders involuntarily sag in disappointment. She rather liked Luna's whispers. Her breath dancing on Ginny's neck, the dreamy tone of her quiet voice, just how close she was. Her secret were more thrilling than others, and they were definitely more interesting than anyone else's, if a little baffling sometimes.  
  
To be honest, she still wasn't quite sure what exactly nargles were. It was probably too late to ask now, after all she had been feigning knowledge of what the Merlin she was talking about for a couple of years already. She was pretty sure something annoying, probably small, possibly with wings or at least the ability to fly and they made their victims cranky. They also seemed to be invisible to everyone but Luna and her dad. Actually come to think of it, Ginny was pretty sure Luna had told her she had some special nargle vision spectacles that came free with an issue of the Quibbler. Maybe she could just recognise the symptoms by now?  
"I guess we should get on with this mountain of books and revision," she said and sighed deeply for a multitude of reasons. "Can you pass me the big one off the top of the pile?"  
  
Luna reached over and passed her the extra-large copy of Advanced Transfiguration volume two. Their hands brushed against each other and Ginny got chills in the best way. Luna scooted over to the edge of her seat until their legs touched and she couldn't get any closer without literally climbing into Ginny's lap. And Ginny found herself wishing she would.  
  
"I'm bored of volume one" Luna said quietly, to keep Madame Pince at bay Ginny guessed. "Can we share volume two?"  
  
"Sure," Ginny smiled and leaned closer to Luna, moving the book so the middle of the spine was right between them.  
  
They read and studied the intricacies of transforming rats into cats and cats into hats and hats into bats. Hermione had been sure that definitely MIGHT come up on the exams but to be fair she had also said the same about transfiguring fingernail clippings into toenail clippings. Ginny was fairly sure that spell would never ever come in handy.  
  
They read with their forearms and legs resting against each other, and near the library closing time Luna's head also rested against Ginny's shoulder. She was still reading though, Ginny could tell because she could feel Luna's lips move as she read, like she was silently mumbling to herself. She'd told Ginny that reading things out loud, usually very very quietly, helped her remember what she had read better.  
  
About five minutes before closing time Ginny was roused from her reading by the sense of someone having sat down in the chair on the other side of the table. She looked up to meet the gaze of a pair of very green eyes hiding behind a pair of round glasses.  
  
Luna lifted her head off of Ginny's shoulder and said; "Hi Harry," in that unearthly voice of hers.  
  
"You two almost done?" Harry asked.  
  
"Almost, just need to finish this chapter. Right, Luna?" Ginny answered. "Can you take the other books back for us though before Madame Pince has an aneurysm?"  
  
Harry smiled and picked up the stack of books. "Sure, anything for you."  
  
Luna looked dreamily after Harry's retreating back.  
  
"You and Harry make a good couple," she said and went back to reading the book.  
  
Ginny didn't know why, but hearing her say those words made her feel kind of sad. They were true though. She and Harry did make a good couple. Better than her and Dean, or Michael. There had been much more arguing with those two. They were perfectly nice boys, mostly, but they didn't really get Ginny. But she and Harry had fun together, when they had the time that was, and she had had a crush on him forever. Like, since she was 10 and she'd seen him on platform 9 ¾ for the first time. It had taken a million years or something for him to see her as something other than his best friend's little sister.  
  
But for some reason Luna saying it made her feel guilty. About what, she was not sure.


	2. Summertime Sadness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny's not having the ~*best summer ever*~

Ginny was sitting on the narrow window sill of her room at the Burrow staring out into the garden. Her room was messy but when wasn't it? To be honest it was too small to ever be tidy. There was just not enough space for all her not very many things. Arnold the Pygmy Puff was sitting in the crook of her arm and she was gently stroking his soft purple fur.  
  
It had been two weeks since Dumbledore's funeral, and since Harry broke up with her. Everything was pretty messed up. Death Eaters everywhere, bad news every other day. Mum was frantically distracting herself from everyone being in mortal peril by throwing herself head first into preparations for Bill and Fleur's wedding.  
  
Ginny had decided to drop the Phlegm nickname. Fleur wasn't the superficial cow she had appeared to be at first. If she were, she wouldn't still be marrying Bill, what with all his scars from Greyback's attack. Ginny herself thought her older brother's scars were badass, just like he was. But actual superficial cows wouldn't, so Fleur was ok by her.  
  
Mum was constantly dragging Ginny into helping with Wedding Chores which was annoying but also a blessing in disguise, because sometimes it was good to have something to distract you from wallowing in the current badness.  
  
She may have not cried when Harry told her he couldn't be involved with her anymore, but she had cried since. At night alone in her room, when no one could hear or see her. She'd cried about a combination of all the things that were in the shit; Harry, Dumbledore, The War, that mortal peril her family was in according to Mum's clock, worry for other members of the Order, and for her friends at Hogwarts. NO ONE WAS SAFE. But she never let anyone see her tears.  
  
Except that one time.  
  
Luna came to see her a week in to the summer holidays. After all, the Lovegoods didn't live that far away from the Burrow. Luna said you could see the shape of their house on the hillside in the distance, though Ginny couldn't see it. Luna said it kind of looked like a rook, the chess piece.  
  
They climbed up to Ginny's room and as soon as she closed the door behind them Luna hugged her so tight almost all the air escaped her lungs and she felt breathless. Ginny felt the floodgates open and she sobbed into Luna's hair for what felt like hours, though it probably was just ten, fifteen minutes. That elderflower scented cloud of dirty blonde hair surrounded her in safety and Luna let Ginny just cry and cry. She didn't say anything, no comforting platitudes. She just held her until she was done and Luna was left with a wet salty patch on the shoulder of her lavender and pink striped jumper.  
  
They spent the rest of the visit talking about everything but the things that were wrong in the world and watching the gnomes in the garden. Mum had asked them to degnome the garden for her but Luna told Ginny gnome bites were enormously beneficial and Ginny didn't have the heart to start pulling the grumpy little fellas out of their hidey-holes in the ground and hurling them over the fence into the fields. At least not while Luna was there. Mum would surely make her or her brothers do it again before the wedding whether or not she degnomed it then or not.  
  
She would be seeing Luna soon, at the wedding. Though she wished she could come for another visit sooner. Or maybe, just maybe she could go visit Luna instead? She doubted the likelihood of that happening though. Mum was too paranoid (with reason though) and the Burrow was magically warded to the teeth. Luna had said her dad didn't believe in wards, whatever that meant. There was no way in hell Mum would let her visit. Ginny sighed and gave Arnold a scratch under his tiny tiny chin.  
  
Hermione would be arriving in a few days. She would want to talk about Harry. Ginny sighed again. She didn't want to talk about Harry. Not with Hermione at least. After all in a way he had left Ginny for her. Not in a romantic way. But he would be going off on some heroic mission with her and Ron, leaving Ginny behind for some stupid noble reason. Like if Voldemort found out about them, he might go after her and if something happened to her because of him, Harry couldn't bare it. That's what he said. Ginny had defiantly told him she didn't care but he was a stubborn little broomhead and didn't listen to her. Ginny hadn't felt like arguing with him, not after she told him she'd never given up on him. She'd thought if she did she might cry from angry frustration and she Did Not Want To Cry in front of Harry. So she had just let him walk away.  
  
And she did not want to talk about Harry with Hermione because she didn't want to cry in front of her either. She might tell him and Ginny had a stoic, tough gal reputation to maintain.  
  
Speaking of Harry, he would be back at the Burrow soon too. Ginny didn't know when exactly. The Order hadn't made decisions on the date, but they would be bringing him in once they'd extracted him from the Dursleys. Ginny figured it would be on or close to his birthday. After all that was when he'd be Of Age and that weird and depressing protection thing from being with his shitty family went away. Hermione had explained it to her, but to be honest Ginny didn't really get it. She understood safety and family but the Dursleys were neither to Harry except by blood. She had never met them but she had seen them at Kings Cross on a few occasions when they came home from Hogwarts and they gave her bad vibes. She bet Luna would tell her they were surrounded by a giant cloud of nargles. The miserable gits.  
  
Ginny dreaded seeing Harry. It would be weird and it would be hard to avoid him because the Burrow wasn't that big, and it didn't have many places to hide. Especially not with mum assigning wedding chores left right and center and soon the Burrow would be bursting at the seams with occupants, even more than usual, once the Delacours arrived. That would make it a full house and three quarters. She was really not looking forward to seeing her ex-boyfriend under such cramped conditions.  
  
"Ginny!" Mum's voice carried clearly up the rickety stairs all the way from downstairs. "Can you come and help me with these gnomes? The garden is full of them again!"  
  
Ginny sighed, she climbed down from the window sill, gently laid Arnold on her bed and went downstairs.


	3. Nice Day for a Wizarding Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Bill and Fleur's wedding, and stuff happens?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops sorry there's been a bit of a gap between chapters, i'm not the most consistent writers, but the next chapter is pretty much ready to go and i'm almost done with the one after. so there shouldn't be a one year gap between chapters (has it really been that long, wtf?)

It was a pretty nice day for a wedding. Ginny was sitting at one of the tables leaning back in the delicate golden chair that matched her golden bridesmaid's dress. It was a pretty good dress. It was comfortable enough and it also gave her some unexpected cleavage action that should couldn't help but stare at in wonder every time she looked downwards. She was just not used to it.

She had an excellent view of the dancefloor and beyond that the orchard and surrounding countryside. The sun was already creeping closer to the horizon and the light was turning a more orange shade as it shone in through the trees.

She was having a little respite from dancing, she had even kicked off her shoes temporarily. She had the table all to herself for the moment. Hermione and Ron were dancing. She giggled to herself. Ron was a pretty terrible dancer, but Hermione seemed to be happy dancing with him and getting her feet trampled on. Ginny glanced around and behind her she saw Harry in his pretend Weasley cousin disguise talking to Viktor Krum in the back.

He had been avoiding her since yesterday when she had kissed him and Ron had busted in like the big lumbering idiot he was. They had thought they were out of earshot when they went outside to argue but their voices had carried in through Ginny's open window and she had sat on the window sill listening to Harry tell Ron it wouldn't happen again. She had decided then that she was not going to dwell in it. She would have fun at the wedding, and she would not even think about Harry fucking Potter. And she intended to stick to that plan.

She looked around again. She spotted Luna on the dancefloor, spinning around slowly with her arms in the air. She was wearing a pale yellow dress, and it floated around her. She had arrived in a bright yellow robe but she must have abandoned it before heading to the dancefloor. Her hair was everywhere like a dirty blonde cloud accessories with a large sunflower, and she wasn't wearing any shoes. She looked out of this world, even more than usual. Ginny smiled to herself and headed over to the floor.

She tapped Luna on the shoulder. She swirled around and smiled never halting her dance. "May I?" Ginny offered Luna her hand and the other girl grabbed it pulling her into the dance. They swayed and twirled, holding hands most of the time occasionally letting go to twirl around each other but never for long. Ginny felt giddy and possibly a little dizzy from all the spinning around. She laughed and Luna was a blur of yellow dress, dirty blonde hair and a giant sunflower.

Suddenly mid twirl there was a tap on Ginny's shoulder and she stopped and turned around. It was Lee Jordan, all fancy in midnight blue dress robes. "May I cut in?" He asked. Ginny looked around for Luna but she had twirled away from her. "Sure", Ginny smiled but if she was honest that smile was not a genuine one. Where in Merlin's name had Luna gone? Lee placed one hand on Ginny's waist and the other on her shoulder and led her into a waltz. He was a pretty good dancer. Ginny wondered if he'd learned it all at the Yule Ball dance lessons or if he'd known how to dance before. And whom had he taken to the ball? It wasn’t important but it bothered her that she couldn’t remember.

She felt very aware of his hands on her body. Actually, she felt very aware of every inch of her body but she didn't think it had anything to do with Lee himself. Ginny was distracted. She wondered where Luna had disappeared off to. She searched the crowd for her as Lee spun her around in the usual fashion of waltz, but she was nowhere to be found. And Luna wasn't exactly easy to miss in her yellow splendour. Lee was talking but she wasn't really listening, just nodding noncommittally as response.

Suddenly she felt Lee start shaking with fits of supressed laughter.

"What?" She was startled from her thoughts.

Lee tittered with silent mirth. "I just asked you if you’ve ever boned a hippogriff and you just said yes," Lee giggled.

Ginny flushed red. "Very funny, Lee", she sneered. "I'm guess you were aware I wasn't really listening to a word you said?"

"Of course," Lee grinned. "I promise won't start any rumours about you and the Hogwarts’ hippogriff herd.”

"Much appreciated," Ginny grinned back at him.

"You looking for Potter?" he asked. "I haven't seen him. It's weird, I thought he would have been here..."

Ginny shook her head. "Nah, I was wondering where Luna went."

"Oh I think I saw Loony float over towards the orchard," Lee shrugged.

Ginny stopped dancing abruptly.

"Don't call her that."

Conveniently the song finished just as Lee let go to lift his hands up in surrender.

"Sorry, didn't mean anything by it. I forgot you two were pals," Lee said lifting his hands up in a defensive gesture.

Ginny glared daggers at him and walked away. She grabbed a half empty champagne bottle off a tray held by a startled waiter as she stomped towards the orchard.

How dare he? She had thought Lee was OK but obviously he was just like everyone else. She huffed with anger as she reached the cover of the trees. The early evening sun gave the light in the orchard a golden orange hue. Gold seemed to be a theme today, even in unintentional places. Ginny took a big swig of the champagne as she weaved through the trees. She wasn't drunk, far from it but she was unaccustomed to the giddy buzz of the bubbly beverage. Maybe it was something about the bubbles. The further she ventured into the fruit trees the calmer she felt. She wondered how far Luna could have gone.

Just as she thought about turning and heading back to the canopy of the wedding party she spotted Luna dancing circles around the oldest whimson tree in the orchard. Her hair had come loose and she was beaming.

"Hello Ginny," she said dreamily, still dancing.

"Hey Luna," Ginny smiled and offered her the bottle. Luna declined the drink, so Ginny took another swig herself.

"Why are you out here in the orchard?" she asked as she lowered the bottle from her lips. She flushed a little, she hadn't meant to sound so blunt.

Luna shrugged and twirled around the tree. "Not sure. I just felt like getting away from all the people."

Ginny blanched. "Oh sorry. I'll go," she said and turned away to leave, but before she could take a step in the direction of the wedding party, she felt Luna's hand on her bare arm.

Ginny felt a jolt of energy rush through her bones as Luna's long fingers touched her bare flesh. It was a bit like being hit by a hex, except good. "No, please stay," Luna whispered.

Before Ginny could answer or do anything, Luna let go. Ginny could still feel the ghost of her touch lingering on her skin. She turned back and saw Luna circling the old tree again. She grabbed one of the ripe purple fruit from a low hanging branch and had a bite. "These are delicious," she mumbled around chews. "Would you like one?" Ginny nodded and Luna reached up again to grab another purple fruit. This one was a little more stubborn about letting go of the branch, but she managed to get it off the branch one handed after a few seconds of struggling. She handed the fruit to Ginny. And there it was, that jolt of energy again when their fingers brushed as she took the fruit from the blonde girl's hand. Ginny shuddered slightly as she looked at the smooth round fruit and its soft fuzzy surface, like a peach but different gradient shades of purple, like apples are sometimes both red and yellow.

She took a big juicy bite. It was delicious, just like Luna had said. She didn't usually get to eat them. Mum usually reserved them for some potion Ginny had forgotten the name and purpose of, and any leftover fruit were made into jam. She watched Luna bite into her fruit again, her lips red with a hint of purple from the juices of the fruit. She took another bite herself and groaned with pleasure.

There was a large red stone in the middle of the fruit which they both discarded on the ground. Both stones bounced a little of the soft earth and landed right next to each other. Together they kind of looked like a crude heart shape among the grass. Ginny stared at the stones for a moment. Suddenly she felt warm again.

She noticed Luna had stopped dancing, and was also looking at the stones. She could hear slightly muted music drifting in from the dance floor. It was an old Celestina Warbeck song mum used to play all the time.

_“We rode our brooms through the morning, through all the lands_  
_We rode hard, we rode in silence, we held hands_  
_You are my rising sun, my setting moon_  
_We lie together in the afternoon_  
_You keep the darkness outside, lover_  
_You make my cauldron boil over..”_

Luna looked up from the stones and stepped close to Ginny. The skirts of their dresses swished together. She seemed impossibly close but at the same time too damn far. She reached out for Ginny's hand, gently like she was asking for permission to hold it. She held hers out for Luna to take.

"Ginny," Luna started, looking down at their clasped hands. She looked up and continued: "Would it be OK with you if I kissed you?"

Ginny felt her eyes widen in surprise and blood rush to her face. But she didn't look away, she kept her eyes on Luna's.

"Yes," she whispered. Luna stepped closer, she slid the hand that wasn't holding Ginny's hand into Ginny's red curls right behind her ear and gently pulled their faces closer together.

Just before their lips met, she asked: "You sure?"

Ginny swallowed and said "Yes" a little louder, firmer than the previous whisper. Luna smiled and slowly placed her lips on Ginny's. It was a small simple soft sweet kiss but so short had it been on her cheek, Ginny could have almost called it a peck. It still left her breathless, her heart skipping a beat, her stomach all aflutter. Luna pulled back, away from the kiss after what at the same time felt like only one second and five minutes. She was still close, her breath lingering on Ginny's lips. But her eyes were closed.

"Luna?" Ginny whispered. "Would it be OK with you if I kissed you? Maybe a little longer this time?"

Luna's pale face lit up with a shy smile. "Yes," she said. Not in her usual dreamy way, but assertive, like Ginny usually spoke. Ginny smiled, some might have said beamed, back and wrapped her other arm around Luna's waist, the bottle she was still holding resting in that valley of her lower back. She pulled her closer again kissed her.

The butterflies in her stomach transfigured into a tornado as Luna's lips moved in response to hers. Her hand was still in Ginny's hair, and slowly moved it to the back of her neck, gently pulling even closer as the kiss deepened and got lost in itself. Luna even tasted of elderflower cordial, under the lingering flavour from the purple fruit. Her lips were soft and warm and still a little wet with fruit juice and Ginny felt weak at the knees.

Suddenly, a terrified scream ripped through the night. They pulled apart abruptly, thinking they were the reason for the sound, but as they looked around there was no one else in the orchard.

The scream had come from the dancefloor. There was the hum of panic, people running and shouting and the night was drenched in the cracking sounds of apparating and disapparating. But no one should be able to do either in the Burrow, not with all the protective charms and wards. Ginny gasped in horror.

"Death Eaters. The ministry must have fallen," she said quietly. Luna nodded.

"It was going to happen eventually," she said, squeezing Ginny's hand.


End file.
